The Latter of the Two
by Dakota Riley
Summary: Riza Hawkeye's point of view. Royai? 'It was her job to protect him, and she would carry out those orders to the death. To the death? Either she was going to live a very short life, or he was going to be a part of her for quite a long time…'


Sleep. Sleep sounded… Well, fantastic. She hadn't had a decent night's sleep in what well like years. In all honesty it had only been a few months. She blinked and stifled a yawn. There was no time for silly human needs on the battlefield. She lifted the scope to her eye, aimed, shot, and killed. She watched in terror as the man screamed out and fell to the ground.

She thought it got easier, every kill she made. She thought that eventually she would have been able to shoot and kill, without so much as a second thought. Well, she was sadly mistaken. She could still feel the kickback of her gun as she fired. She could still see her victim's blood splattering the ground. She could still hear their dying screams. She could still see the look in their eyes as they lay on the ground, cold and dead.

It never went away. People saw her as strong, how she was one of the few women on the battle field. Not only was she a female, but she was young. Approximately three or four years younger then the average soldier. People praised her. She felt empty.

Sure, she had a great shot. Maybe the best in her class. That didn't mean she enjoyed watching bodies fall to the ground after being penetrated by one of her bullets. Anyone who could enjoy that was sick, twisted, evil, cruel, disgusting, and just downright disturbing.

She blinked, suddenly curious as to what went through the minds of serial killers. Many killers claimed they enjoyed it, but she found that impossible. It was impossible to take a life without some sort of remorse or guilt…

She lifted her gun again and shot. She shot again. And again. And again. Until someone came up behind her, whispered an order in her ear, and walked away. She nodded and looked around for her target. The black haired state alchemist, Roy Mustang. She spotted him, looking through her scope with her aim on his head. She had been assigned to aid him, make sure no bastard managed to get to him. You'd think it would be easy enough. Then again, she knew how rash the man could be in the face of danger. He literally 'laughed in the face of danger.' Sometimes, she wished she could have shot him.

But she didn't. Instead, she watched over him day and night, like he had for her the past few years.

Something caught her attention behind him. The rubble shifted, something moved in the shadows. An Ishvalan, leapt up from behind him, a knife in his grasp. She aimed, quickly and accurately, and sent the man slumping to the ground a foot from the alchemist. He spun around, looking at the bleeding body glareing up at him.

The man beside him smiled and rested a hand on his shoulder, muttering something. Luckily, she had easily learned to read lips when she was younger, sitting and waiting for her father to finish whatever he was doing in town. She would look all around town and read what people were saying. Perhaps that was why she could 'read' people so well. Then again, maybe she just knew human nature well enough.

Either way, it didn't matter. She watched the alchemist look around in slight confusion, was he looking for her? Maybe, maybe not.

'Don't worry, Roy. We have the Eyes of the Hawk on us.'

She smirked when she looked over at him, and the small 'Impossible…' on his lips. Was it true, he really didn't believe it was her? How insulting. They had spent half of their lives together, now he didn't believe she would follow him on his journey? He really had no faith in her as a human.

Maybe she would reveal herself to him later on. After she saved his ass a few more times. She pondered the possibility of him getting on his knees and thanking her for saving him. Nope, he wouldn't. She wouldn't want him too. Maybe she could use her new-found skill as a sniper to scare him away. She preferred him if he kept his distance. He was always so… Close? Close, maybe that was the best way to describe it.

He had simply always been there. He was the first man she had really gotten close to, other then her father, of course. People at school had always teased her about what it was like to live with they guy you were going to end up marrying some day. She doubted that they would get married, or they he even enjoyed her company. Perhaps he enjoyed her being around, but that didn't mean that they were going to get married.

She wouldn't like that, she wasn't ready to settle down. She was still young, and she wanted to explore the world. Although, this blood-soaked land wasn't exactly what she had in mind… She wanted to travel, see exciting things she hadn't before. She wanted to be in the face of danger, not up in come tower where all she could do was shoot people before they had the chance to stab Roy in the back. Or slit his throat. Or shoot him.

It was her job to protect him, and she would carry out those orders to the death. To the death? Either she was going to live a very short life, or he was going to be a part of her for quite a long time… She hoped it was the latter of the two.

* * *

**AN: It has been brought to my attention that people don't know when this happens. ^^;;**

**It's sometime during the Ishbal War. No, I don't think she was actually assigned to protect him, but.. I wrote it that way. **


End file.
